driftwm-settings

July 6, 2026 · View on GitHub

Complete GUI settings manager for driftwm compositor.

Next Update - ±20.08.2026

Note: The developer is currently on vacation until August 20, 2026.

Supported Versions

driftwm versions up to 0.4.0 (inclusive) are fully supported.

Features

🎨 Native GTK4 interface with sidebar navigation
⚙️ All driftwm settings - 15+ configuration pages covering every option
💾 Live editing - changes update config structure in real-time
🔄 Hot reload support - driftwm automatically reloads config on save
📝 TOML format - reads/writes ~/.config/driftwm/config.toml
🎭 Interactive Shader Editor - create custom animated backgrounds with visual controls
🪟 Window Rules - per-app blur, opacity, and decoration settings

Settings Pages

1. General

Modifier key (super/alt)
Focus follows mouse

2. Keyboard

Layout, variant, options, model
Repeat rate and delay
Layout independent keybindings
Num Lock and Caps Lock startup state

3. Trackpad

Tap to click, natural scroll, tap and drag
Acceleration speed and profile
Click method

4. Mouse

Acceleration speed and profile
Natural scroll

5. Cursor

Theme and size
Inactive opacity

Trackpad and mouse speed
Friction and animation speed
Nudge and pan step
Edge pan settings

7. Zoom

Zoom step multiplier
Fit padding
Reset on new window/activation

8. Snap

Enable/disable snapping
Gap, distance, break force
Same edge snapping

9. Decorations

Background and foreground colors
Corner radius

10. Effects

Blur radius (0-20 passes) and strength (0.1-5.0)
6 blur presets: None, Light, Default, Medium, Strong, Extreme

11. Window Rules

Per-app blur, opacity, decoration settings
Match by app_id and/or title (glob support)
Widget mode (pinned windows)
Dynamic add/remove rules

12. Backend

Wait for frame completion
Disable direct scanout
NVIDIA environment variables guide

13. Background

Shader path (GLSL)
Tile path (PNG/JPG)
Quick access to Shader Editor

14. Shader Editor ✨ NEW

Visual Mode: Interactive controls for colors, animation, effects
- 3 shader templates: Gradient, Animated Waves, Clouds
- RGB color pickers for primary and secondary colors
- Animation speed, pattern scale, complexity controls
- Vignette and glow effects
Raw Mode: Full GLSL code editor for advanced users
Generate and save custom shaders
Apply directly to background

15. Keybindings

Custom keyboard shortcuts
Add/remove bindings dynamically

16. Autostart

Multi-line editor for startup commands

Installation

Requirements

GTK4
Rust 1.85+ (edition 2024)

Build from source

cd ~/driftwmsettings
cargo build --release

Install system-wide

sudo make install

This installs:

Binary to /usr/local/bin/driftwm-settings
Desktop entry to /usr/local/share/applications/

Uninstall

sudo make uninstall

Usage

Launch from terminal

driftwm-settings

Search for "driftwm Settings" in your application launcher.

Development

cargo run

Project Structure

driftwmsettings/
├── src/
│   ├── main.rs           # UI and page implementations
│   ├── config.rs         # TOML config structures
│   ├── config_helpers.rs # Config initialization helpers
│   ├── ui_helpers.rs     # UI widget helpers
│   └── shader_editor.rs  # Interactive shader editor
├── Cargo.toml
├── Makefile
├── README.md
└── driftwm-settings.desktop

Configuration

The app reads and writes to:

~/.config/driftwm/config.toml

Changes are saved when you click the "Save" button. driftwm will automatically reload the config within 1 second (hot reload).

Custom shaders are saved to:

~/.config/driftwm/custom_shader.glsl

Recent Changes

v0.2.1

🐛 Bug Fix: Fixed an issue where persistent and excessive scrollbars appeared by allowing the content area to dynamically resize based on the active page instead of keeping the maximum height of the tallest page.